In the midst of a major face lift, Houck Stadium will serve as the home of Southeast Missouri State University football for the 77th consecutive year.

Houck Stadium was constructed in 1930 at a cost of $150,000 and remains today a beautiful and picturesque place to play football.

The improvements continue at Houck Stadium. A new Field Turf playing surface was added in 2000 and the exterior of the stadium has a new surface. Improvements have also been made to the press box.

Future improvements will include new home and visiting dressing rooms, a new press box and expansion of landscaping and parking around the stadium. The improvements are expected to add at least another quarter century of life to this historic facility.

The improvements are all a part of the current Capital Campaign at the University.

Houck Stadium is constructed on the site of a former rock quarry and was purchased in 1925 for $11,000 at the recommendation of then college president Joseph A. Serena. The stadium was dedicated on October 3, 1930.

An ad in the dedication program pointed out that 10,000 bags of Portland Cement, 23,000 feet of Oregon Fir seat lumber, and 150,000 feet of Yellow Pine Form lumber were used in the construction. The original stadium had 5,240 seats on the south side of the field.

The field and stadium were named in honor of Louis Houck who served for 39 years as a Regent for the University and as President of the Board for 36 of those years.

The opening game was against Southern Illinois-Carbondale and attracted a crowd of over 6,000. SIU won the game 12-6. The referee for the opening games was James T. Blair, Jr., governor of Missouri from 1957-61.

The first game under lights was also in 1930 and saw the Indians beat Haskell Institute, 12-6, for the first victory in the new stadium.

Seating on the north side of the stadium was added prior to the 1963 season and a press box was constructed on the south side in 1979.

Nearly 400 chairback seats were added in 1992 in a new center section on the south side.

The largest crowd to see a game at Houck Stadium was 11,015 for the 1999 Family Weekend game against Eastern Kentucky.

As Houck celebrates 77 years of Southeast Football, improvements that will upgrade the stadium dramatically are on the way!